Villar dismisses appeal by health workers: ‘Pagbutihin nila trabaho nila’
MANILA, Philippines — Senator Cynthia Villar on Saturday dismissed the call of health workers to return Metro Manila and its adjacent areas under an enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), saying that they should just do their jobs better.
“Hindi na siguro. Pagbutihin nila (medical frontline workers) trabaho nila,” Villar said over radio station DWIZ when asked if she agrees with medical groups’ request to place Metro Manila under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).
(Maybe not. They should just do their jobs better.)
The senator said people will die of hunger if Metro Manila will again be placed under ECQ, which would mean a restriction of movement and the limiting of business operations.
“Hindi pwede isara ang ekonomiya kasi kung hindi mamamatay sa (COVID-19), mamatay sa gutom ang mga tao,” Villar said.
(We can’t shutdown the economy because if people will not die of COVID-19, they will die of hunger.)
Villar said the government will build more facilities to treat those with mild virus cases and those showing no symptoms.
“Saka mag-bi-build din ng mga facility ang government na ito naman para sa asymptomatic at mild cases. Hindi naman lahat napunta sa ospital. Five percent lang nasa ospital,” she said.
(Government will build more facilities for asymptomatic and mild cases. Not all patients will go to hospitals. Only five percent go to hospitals.)
In an online press briefing, Philippine Medical Association (PMA) president Dr. Jose Santiago called for a stricter coronavirus lockdown to address “hospital workforce efficiency, failure of case finding and isolation, failure of contact tracing and quarantine, transportation safety, workplace safety, public compliance with self-protection, social amelioration.”
To date, the Department of Health said the Philippines has a total of 98,232 coronavirus infections including 65,265 recoveries and 2,039 deaths.
